Intercontinental Exchange Profit Declines on Energy Trading

IntercontinentalExchange Inc., in the process of buying NYSE Euronext for $8.2 billion, reported an 8 percent drop in first-quarter profit due in part to lower revenue from credit default swap trading and higher expenses.

The Atlanta-based derivatives exchange and clearinghouse operator said on Wednesday its net income fell to $135.4 million, or $1.85 a share, in the quarter, from $147.9 million, or $2.02 a share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items including transaction costs related to the NYSE deal, adjusted earnings were $2.03 per share. That beat analysts' average expectations by 6 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

ICE said in December it planned to buy New York Stock Exchange operator NYSE in a deal that will give ICE control of Liffe, Europe's second largest derivatives market, to help expand into the interest rate futures business.

ICE said it expects acquisition expenses related to the transaction to be in the range of $10 million to $12 million in the second quarter.

NYSE said on Tuesday its first-quarter profit rose by 44 percent from a year earlier, due largely to a rise in European derivatives trading volumes and lower costs.

IntercontinentalExchange Inc, in the process of buying NYSE Euronext for $8.2 billion, reported an 8 percent drop in first-quarter profit due in part to lower revenue from credit default swap trading and higher expenses.
The Atlanta-based derivatives exchange and...